UNOPS Lauds Gov’t for Efforts to Reach Out Needy People in Tigray
United Nation Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Ethiopia has lauded the efforts of the Government of Ethiopia to reach out the people who are in need of support in Tigray region.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, UNOPS Ethiopia Country Director Worknesh Mekonnen said the efforts of the government to bring peace in the region will help to enhance the humanitarian support to the people.
“We believe this is a huge gesture of peace in terms of trust building and providing the needed support to those communities who need it,” she added.
According to her, the portion that is going to Tigray region from the World Bank support is 25 million USD to be used for basic social services.
This is directly transferred to UNOPS from the World Bank for implementing basic social services in selected kebeles of five woredas.
The director explained that the United Nation Office for Project Services will provide rapid response services in Tigray and reconstruct basic services to communities affected by the conflict.
Worknesh said this project is already on the ground and they have already set up offices in the Tigray region.
“If we are called upon to complement the efforts, especially where the government is not able to access and demand for support from the UN system, we are always available to do that,” she stated.
Improving access to multi-sectoral response services for Gender-Based Violence (GBV) survivors in selected conflict-affected communities in Ethiopia is also among the objectives of the WB-financed project that will be implemented by other UN agencies.
The director pointed out that the aid provided for the needy in Ethiopia is not sufficient when compared with the complex crises the country is facing.
“With the entire crisis that we go through in terms of the global crisis that we’ve been through, not to mention the current Ukraine crisis that makes the situation worse, the donor landscape support flow is not as it used to be. But what we are trying to do is to maximize and leverage from every opportunity we get to support as much as possible on the ground.”
It is to be recalled that the Government of Ethiopia signed a third-party implementation agreement with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) for the implementation of the World Bank-Financed Recovery Project in the Tigray region.
Source: Ethiopia News Agency